I guess it is your turn to take care of her
by Bonasena
Summary: this is a request I got from Thas Costa - I hope you like it and I hope I don't disappoint you. this is my take on Mac taking care of Christine after her kidnapping in s9e15. it is mostly Mac and Christine but the rest of the team will appear too.
1. post finding Christine

Chapter 1 – post scene finding Christine

Mac opens the door and the feeling that he gets when he sees Christine all curled up and tied up on the floor is heartbreaking. He can't get to her fast enough. He runs over to her and kneels next to her. The look in her eyes when she sees him. It is breaking his heart knowing how scared she must have been for the past few days. He removes the gag in her mouth and she immediately starts crying. He then cuts off the strips that are trying her hands on her back. As soon as her hands are free, she leans into him and holds tight onto his jacket. He wraps his arms around her and just gently touches her. The feeling of holding her in his arms again is indescribable. He was so scared that he would never see her again. The fear of losing her too would be unbearable to him. The sound of her voice when she says, "I knew you would come for me." Breaks his heart. All he can respond is "always." She never lost faith in him even though he started to lose faith in himself. If he hadn't been able to save her his job would have been meaningless. She looks up at him for a short moment and then says, "I love you, Mac." That is the first time she's ever said it to him. He responds, "I love you too." While he is holding her tight and kisses her head. They are sitting like that for a few minutes until they hear Flack's voice "NYPD, SHOW ME YOUR HANDS" Mac can hear Omar yell back at Flack. "He tried me up. I am unarmed."

"where is Christine?" That is Jo asking. "in there. The chick and the cup are in there." Omar says. Shortly after the door is forced wide open and Jo, Lindsay, Detective Lovato, and Flack is standing in the door. Nobody says anything. Mac is still holding Christine in his arms. She seems relaxed now. Her eyes are closed. It almost seems like she is sleeping in his arms.

"I'll call paramedics," Lovato says and walks away. It is clear that neither Jo, Flack or Lindsay want to leave Mac and Christine alone. A relieved smile spreads on the three detectives faces as they see Mac holding Christine in his arms. He briefly looks up and makes eye contact with them, just to let them know that it is alright. Macs eyes meet Jos for a brief moment and Jo nods with a smile. Shortly after Detective Lovato comes back in. "paramedics are on their way. Uniforms are transporting the two suspects in for process right now." Lovato informs them. "thank you, Lovato."

"how do you want to do this Jo?" Lindsay asks. "get Danny and Adam to the Laundry and you and Hawkes are starting the process here. I'll go to the hospital with Christine." Jo says.

Christien now opens her eyes and look up.

"are you coming to the hospital too?" she look at Mac. Her voice is almost whispering.

"I'm not leaving you." He says in a soft voice that is almost whispering and then he looks up at Jo to tell her that it is not up for discussion. None of the detectives really wants to leave Mac and Christine and none of them really know what to do with them self. "I'll go call DB Russell and let the others know that we found her," Lindsay says walks away. But before she leaves she look back just to check one more time if Christine really is okay. "I'll check on the uniforms and see when the paramedics are here," Flack says and walks away. He gets a pad on the shoulder from Jo before he leaves just to let him know that it is okay that he leaves Mac and Christine. Jo will stay with them. Jo walks into the room where Mac and Christine haven't moved since the others arrived. Shortly after Flack comes in with the paramedics. "Christine, the paramedics are here," Flack says. Christine looks up at him but never lets go of Mac. Two paramedics, a female and a male enters in with a stretcher. Mac starts to move a bit.

"can you stand?" the female paramedic asks Christine when they try to help her to her feet. She gets up on her feet but her balance isn't very good.

"Okay, let's get you over here." The female paramedic says. The two paramedic takes over and pushes Mac out of the way and they help her up on the stretcher and starts checking her. She gets an oxygen mask on as one of the first things.

"Mac?" She asks once she is laying down on the stretcher. She reaches out to hold on to him. He takes her hand.

"I'm right her Christine."

"let's get her to the hospital. She is dehydrated and she needs to get heated up." The male paramedic says both to his colleague and also to Mac and Jo.

"I am coming with her," Mac says determined so it doesn't leave anything up for discussion.

"I'll be right behind you," Jo says. And then they start wheeling Christine out of there to get her to the hospital. Every police officer they walk by as they transport Christine out stops to see if Christine is okay. They all ask Jo how she is doing and how mac is doing. No one is talking to mac. He is only focused on Christine and he never breaks eye contact with her or let go of her hand as they bring her into the ambulance.


	2. hospital

Chapter 2 – hospital

As soon as Christine arrives at the Emergency room she is taking in to further examination and Mac is left in the waiting room. Mac sits down and tries to read one of the old newspapers in the waiting room, but he can't focus on the articles, not even on the sports section. So Mac decides to go to and get a snack. He realizes he hasn't eaten much all they. While he is standing at the vending machine his mind start to wandering. He is an experienced detective. He has worked many kidnapping cases before but it never gets easier when it is one of his own that get injured. And today it just feels a lot harder. He has spent many hours in the waiting room with family to kidnap victims. More then he likes to count but it never gets easier. Even though Christine didn't seem to have been severely physically injured. From his professional observation skills, it seemed like she was a little disoriented from being low on food, sleep and a bit dehydrated. But he hadn't noticed any wounds and other kinds of life-threatening injuries, but he knows all too well that it can be hidden under her skin. Internal bleeding from repeated beatings… no, he doesn't want to go there. She is tough she is strong. She will be fine.

About an hour later Mac is still sitting in the waiting room. Jo walks by the waiting room and sees Mac is sitting there. She walks into him and takes a seat next to him. Mac notices the bag she has in her hand.

"Christine's clothing?" Mac asks without even looking at Jo. Jo takes Mac's hand.

"She is going to be fine Mac."

"Detective Danville." A young male nurse is standing in the doorway.

"Miss Whitney is ready to be processed now." Mac gets up from the chair before Jo can say anything. They follow the young nurse to the room where Christine is. Christine is behind a cover hanging from the ceiling. She is talking to a doctor.

"can… can I please see my boyfriend?" Christine asks as Mac and Jo walk into the room. It is the first time Mac hear Christine refer to him as her boyfriend.

"the police will be here in a minute to process you and then I'm sure they will inform your boyfriend.

"my boyfriend is a cop," Christine says insisting to the doctor.

Jo walks in behind the cover to where Christine and the doctor is. Mac is right behind Jo. Christine starts smiling when she sees Mac.

"this is the CSI…"

"it is alright Dr. Hunter," Mac says. The brunette doctor looks over at Mac and a big smile spreads on her face.

"Detective Taylor. Long time no sees." Dr. Hunter, Mac's friend from a few years ago says with a smile.

"yeah. Hey Christine." Mac says and looks over at Christine.

"You two know each other?" Christine asks.

"yes dr. hunter is an old friend of mine." Mac says and takes Christine's hand.

"I'll leave you guys to it. Let me know if you need anything, miss Withney." Dr. Hunter says as she leaves the room.

Mac and Christine are just looking into each other's eyes and is completely lost. Jo almost feels bad about interrupting them.

"Christine, I hate to interrupt, but…

"no, you don't," Mac says with a smile to her for the first time since Christine went missing has Mac sad something with a smile to Jo.

"yeah you are right I don't, but I need to." Jo says with a smile. "how are feeling?" Jo asks.

"okay. Tired, but relieved it is over." Jo nod in understanding. "of course. I'm glad that you are okay."

Christine leans her head against Mac's stomach.

"Christine I am going to have to process you," Jo explains.

"what does that mean?" Christine asks and looks at Mac.

"I'm no in duty så Jo will explain it to you." Mac just says.

"Mac Taylor turning of his duty %? How are you and what did you do to my Mac?" Christine jokes.

"I don't want to be a detective when it is your case, because."

"because of what?"

"I can't do this." He leans down and kisses her.

"Okay, you two lovebirds let me process Christine and I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible."

"Okay, Jo. What do I need to do?" Christine asks and sits up straight.

"I am going to comb your hair for any evidence and check your nails and I have already collected your clothing. I am also going to take some pictures of you any bruises you have sustained doing the captivity."

"okay," Christine says.

Jo is waiting for a moment for Mac to leave.

"Mac this is the hint for you to get your butt out of here," Jo says.

"you want me to leave?" Mac asks Christine. she is still holding his hand.

"yeah could you go get me a diet soda?" she asks.

"anything for you," Mac says and gives her kiss on her head and leaves. Jo is just looking at them.

"wow, you two are just adorable," Jo says.

"he is amazing," Christine says more to herself than to Jo.

After Mac has left the room Jo starts to process Christine for evidence.

About an hour later Mac comes back to Christine's hospital room. Christine is laying down in her bed looking out the window. Looking at the skyscrapers. She doesn't hear Mac returning. Mac walks over to her and gently places a kiss on her forehead. She gets a shock.

"oh my god Mac, don't do that to me."

"I'm sorry Christine. I thought you were asleep." Mac says feeling bad about spooking her. "I got you a diet soda and… he holds out a bag for her. She looks wondering at the bag and then at Mac. He hands her the bag and she opens it. "oh, Mac. My favorite takeout." Christine takes out the takeout box with chines food. "you really know how to treat a lady." They both start laughing. Mac takes a seat next to Christine's bed. They just sit in peach and Christine enjoy her food while Mac just enjoys the silence and just the sight of Christine being safely back with him. Christine notices that Mac is starring at her.

"Mac…" Christine snaps him out of his thoughts. "you are staring at me."

"you are so beautiful." Is all he responds. It makes Christine smile but also feel awfully aware of the bruises she has on her wrist and on her face. She doesn't feel very beautiful right now. Mac notices the change in Christine's face when she looks away from him and looks out the window. Mac takes her hand to get her to look over at him again. She looks at him and he notices she has tears in her eyes. He puts his coffee on the table and stands up. He leans down over her and rests his head right next to hers.

"I don't feel very beautiful right now, mac." She whispers and cries.

"it is okay. You will soon." He says.

He sits down on the side of her bed. his hand is gently touching her face and his thumb is brushing a tear away from her face.

"you will soon." He whispers to her and lean down and kisses her. They are interrupted by a knock on the door. Mac sits up straight to see who it is. It is detective Lovato.

"Sorry to interrupt." She says politely. "may I come in?" she asks.

"sure," Christine says and looks away from her to brush away a tear.

"how are you feeling Christine?" she asks as she stands by the end of her bed.

"I don't know." She says. "does that sound weird?" she asks the experienced detective?"

Lovato shakes her head. "no it doesn't." "miss Withney…" "please call me Christine.2 Christine interrupts. "sure. Christine I am going to take your statement about what about over the past few days. Would you prefer Detective Taylor to be here? If you do it is perfectly fine." Lovato explains. In the meantime, Mac has gotten a text. Christine can see on Mac facial expression that it is work related.

"Duty Calls?" Christine asks and looks up at Mac.

"there is some paperwork I need to sign back at the precinct."

"go do that, Mac," Christine says.

"if you want me to stay. I'll stay."

"no. go. Get out of here." Christine says determinedly. Mac smiles at her. It is nice to see her like that with a sense of humor again.

"okay. I'll go." Mac says with a smile. He leans down and kisses Christine. "I'll see ya later. Call me if you need anything." Mac says and then leaves the room.

 _Followed by the two last scenes with Flack and Jo and the precinct and then the scene with DB in Mac's office._


	3. post episode - familyvisit

Chapter 3 – a visit from family

 **Post episode s9e15**

Mac is back at the hospital after his conversation with DB in his Office. Christine is done with giving Lovato her statement and she is asleep. Dr. Hunter is in her room.

"Hello, Dr," Mac says.

"Hello, Mac." Dr. Hunter says.

"how is she?" Mac asks.

"she is physically okay, but mental we can't say yet. She has some minor wounds on her body and she is a bit dehydrated and also, she hasn't got a lot of food the past few days so we would like to keep her here at least until tomorrow to make sure the numbers go back to normal. But I am optimistic." Aubrey says.

"thank you, dr.," Aubrey is about to leave the room. "Hey, Aubrey. Do you think it is possible I can stay with her tonight?" Mac asks.

"sure. I didn't know she had protection details?"

"she doesn't. she is my… girlfriend. I would like to stay with her."

Aubrey smiles. "she is a lucky woman. I'll make sure you get something to sleep on, Mac." Dr. Hunter leaves the room and Mac walks over and gently kisses Christine's forehead before he takes a seat next to her bed. shortly after a couch is moved into the room and placed in the corner som Mac can move it closer to Christine's bed when it is time for them to sleep. After about a half an hour Christine starts to wake up.

"morning sleeping beauty," Mac says.

Christine just looks over at Mac with a smile. She reaches her hand out to hold his. He takes her hand and she pulls his hand with hers under the blanket to keep her hand war. She is still cold after being in that cold factory for almost 24 hours.

"are you still cold?" Mac asks.

"a little." She answers.

"you want some coffee. I can go get you some coffee." Mac is about to stand up.

"no. I just want you to be here with me."

She says with a smile. She moves to the side of the bed a bit. He sits on the side of her bed. she reaches her hand up to gently pull him down to her and kisses him.

"when can I go in, daddy?" Lucy's voice is heard from the doorway. She sounds impatient. Lucy is standing in the door with her favorite doll in her arms and behind her is the entire team.

"you can come in Lucy," Christine says. Lucy walks in and walks over to Christine and Mac. She stands next to Mac. Christine's reaches her hand out to Lucy. Lucy sees the bandage on Christine's wrist and takes a step back. She sits down on the floor with her doll. Everyone is surprised by Lucy's behavior.

"Hey Christine, how are you?" Hawkes asks.

"I'm fine. Tired, but fine." Christine says. "I'm alive."

"Yeah we got your message," Hawkes says.

"it didn't matter. They moved me from there."  
"it did matter." Jo says. "every little clue matters. And the clue you gave us not just the symbol but also the fingerprint was a big clue."

"the fingerprint?" Christine look confused at jo.

"you left your own fingerprint when you drew the symbol on his leg," Jo explains.

"how did you get my fingerprint? Don't you need a sample of my fingerprint to confirm it is mine?"

"you gave your fingerprints to the system when you got your liquor license," Hawkes explains.

"right I forgot that. So, I guess the symbol wasn't as useless as I thought." Christine says.

"you did great. You helped us a lot with finding you." Mac says and gives her a kiss.

"Mac I got the backpack you asked for," Don says and hands Mac a black backpack.

"thanks, flack:" Mac places the backpack on the floor next to Christine's bed.

"why do you need a backpack?" Christine asks,

"I don't. You do." Christine look confused at Mac. "your clothing was collected for evidence. Usually, the detective who processes a victim of a crime informs a loved one of the victim to bring in some clothing. But nobody informed did that regarding you." Mac says and looks at Jo with a blaming expression combined with a hint of a smile.

"When I was home yesterday I collected a set of clothing and some toiletries for you. I left the bag in my office and forgot it when I headed back here tonight." Mac explains.

"you were at my place yesterday?" Christine asks.

"no mine. You have some things at my place. I just collected a set of the clothing you have at my place."

Christine nods in understanding.

"okay." Christine reaches out and takes Mac's hand.

"Mommy?" Lucy is sitting on the floor with her doll. "mommy can I play on your phone?" Lucy asks.

"Lucy all the way in the car you talked about something you wanted to do in here. What about that?" Danny asks.

"I don't want to. Mommy can I play on your phone?" Lucy says.

"Lucy why don't you want to. The first thing you asked when we picked you up from school was when you could go see Christine and Mac, and now you are just sitting with your doll." Lindsay is confused about her daughter's behavior. Mac sits down on the floor next to Lucy and he wraps his arm around Lucy.

"Hey Lucy, how is your doll today?" Mac asks. Everyone else is just looking at them.

"fine. See she is wearing her nice dress."

"I'm sure Christine would love to see it, but she can't see it down here."

Lucy looks down at her doll. "I don't want to hurt her. Lucy says almost whispering and tears start forming in her eyes.

"Lucy why would you think that?" Mac asks.

"because her hands are hurt," Lucy says.

"come here, Lucy. Mac says he stands up and lift Lucy up on his arm. They walk over to Christine.

"Christine Lucy is a little concerned about you being in any pain," Mac explains.

"I'm not in any pain Lucy."  
"but your hands. They have… that."

Lucy points to Christine's wrist that has a bandage on them.

"it doesn't hurt Lucy," Christine reassures Lucy.

"Does it hurt anywhere else?" Lucy asks.

"no. but I am glad that you are asking Lucy." Christine says.

"will it hurt you if I give you a hug?" Lucy asks.

That makes Christine and everyone else smile. "no, it won't hurt me, Lucy." The first thing Lucy had said when she heard from Danny and Lindsay that Christine was safe in the hospital was that she wanted to give Christine a hug when she saw her. Mac places Lucy down n the floor and Lucy tries to reach up to Christine in the bed but the ed is too high for Lucy to reach Christine. Lucy looks frustrated up at Mac, who is standing next to her.

"but Mac I can't give her a hug when she is in the bed. the bed is too big."

"hmmm… how about?" mac asks and lifts Lucy up in his arms, so she is laying on her stomach on his arms.

"a flying hug." Mac lower Lucy down so she can reach Christine without full body contact. Lucy is giggling as she hugs Christine, without any worry of hurting Christine. After the hug, Mac places Lucy back on her feet. "silly Maggi." Lucy says looking at Mac with a big smile. "Silly. Who is silly?" Mac asks. Lucy sits down on the chair Mac was sitting on earlier and starts to talk with Christine about her doll, but the bed it too high so Christine can't really see what Lucy is talking about.

"Lucy?" Mac says. "if you take off your shoes you can lay down next to Christine if you want to then it is easier for Christine to see what you are doing." Mac says. Lucy takes off her shoes and Mac helps Lucy up in the bed and she lays down next to Christine. Mac is just looking at the 2 favorite people in his life. The rest of the team stands around them. Danny walks over and places a hand on macs shoulder. "it is good to have you back pal." Danny says. Referring to that Mac hasn't been himself over the past few days. But as soon as Mac is with Lucy and Christine anything else in the world disappear and his more childish side comes out.

At around 9 pm it is time for the team to leave the hospital. Lucy is about to fall asleep next to Christine and everyone including Christine is exhausted. Danny walks over and lifts Lucy up from Christine's bed.

Danny places her on the chair and puts on her shoes and her jacket.

"Lucy sweetie remembers your doll," Lindsay says.

"no mommy," Lucy says. The doll is still in Christine's bed.

"why not Lucy?"

"because Dolly needs to stay here with Christine."

"why Lucy?" Lindsay asks.

"because Christine is sick, so Dolly needs to take care of her, just like Dolly does to me when I am sick and she took care of you when you were in the hospital mommy. Remember?"

Lindsay can't help but smile at her daughter's thoughtfulness and concern for Christine.

"Lucy that is very sweet of you but I know that Christine already has someone to protect her."  
"who Mommy?"

"I'm sure, Mac is the best protection Christine will ever need."

"don't worry Lucy. I am staying here with Christine at the hospital all night."

"Mac, you should go home and get some rest too," Christine says. Mac stands up and looks at Christine with a serious look.

"that couch right there…" Mac points at the couch. "is going to be my best friend until you get out of here and that is not up for discussion." Mac says in a very determined tone. Lucy starts giggling which immediately removes the serious look on Mac's face. Lucy giggle always makes Mac smile.

"what is so funny Lucy?" Lindsay asks.

"Mac you can't be best friends with a couch that is not possible," Lucy says while giggling. Everyone else starts smiling at Lucy.

After Danny is done getting Lucy ready to go Lucy stands up.

"Maggi, can you help me give Christine a flying goodnight hug?" Lucy asks with a pleading smile to Mac.

"sure," Mac says. Mac has never been able to resist Lucy's request when she looks at him with her sparkling big eyes. "anything for my favorite two girls." Mac takes Lucy and lifts her up so she can give Christine a good night hug. Then Mac hands Lucy over to Danny. Lindsay grabs Lucy's doll and they all say their goodbyes and head out. once the team has left Christine gets up to brush her teeth and get ready for a good night sleep. When she comes back into the room, she sees Mac has laid down on the couch. He doesn't seem to be very comfortable. Christine smiles thinking about Mac is willing to sleep so uncomfortable to make her feel safer. Christine gets into the hospital bed and gets comfortable. Then she reaches out and takes Mac's hand.

"Mac you know you don't have to stay right. You would be more comfortable in your own bed."  
"yes If you were there. You are not. You are here so I am here." He says while he is moving around to find a comfortable position on the couch that is too short for him.

The light gets turned off in the room.

"I love you mac." Is the last thing Christine says before she falls asleep while holding Mac's hand.


	4. coming home

Christine stays at the hospital for 2 days before she can go home. Mac is there to pick her up and drives her home to her apartment. It is late in the afternoon when they arrive at Christine's apartment. Mac is carrying the bag pack he brought to the hospital with her clothing. He places the bag on the floor.

"I think I'll go take a shower," Christine says.

"are you hungry? I could order some food?" Mac offers.

Christine looks at Mac with a smile.

"sounds good," Christine says and walks into her bedroom to find some clothing. While Christine is taking a shower, Mac orders the food. He orders food from their favorite Chinese place nearby. Afterword Mac sits and relaxes on the couch. he leans back on the couch and closes his eyes for a moment. The moment he closes his eyes he sees Christine sitting on the floor with her hands tired on her ack and that gag in her mouth. He opens his eyes right away again. He needs to find a way to get that picture out of his head. he looks around in the living room. Christine has a lot of pictures of her family on her shelf over her tv. He notices a new picture frame on the shelf next to the tv. he stands up and picks up the frame. It is a picture of the two of them together. It is not the same picture as the one he has on his desk in his office. He likes this one better. It is a picture taken one night they went to Danny and Lindsay's.

The team had just closed a big case and Danny and Lindsay invited everyone over. At first, Lucy had taken all the attention with her toys and running around but after Lucy finally had fallen asleep there had been a nice relaxing mood. Christine spends most of the time speaking with Jo and Lindsay while Mac had been talking with Flack, Danny, and Hawkes. At some point, mac remember, he had felt Christine sliding her hand into his under the table and that had made Mac turn his head towards her. He had looked right into her big blue smiling eyes. it was that moment that Lindsay had snapped a picture of them. Mac hadn't even realized that Lindsay had taken the picture. He knows Lindsay like to take pictures especially of him and Lucy together. He remembers how happy and relaxed he felt that night with his team bonding so well with Christine and having Christine, the woman he loves so much, right there next to him.

Mac gets snapped out of his memory when he feels Christine's hands sliding up his chest over his t-shirt and the heat of her body against his back.

"do you remember that night?" Christine asks when she notices which picture Mac is holding in his hand. Mac smiles and places the frame back on the shelf.

"yes, I do." He says and turns around and wraps his arms around her.

"how was your shower?" he asks and kisses her on the top of her head.

"lonely." She says. He looks surprised at her and then blushes. he looks away from her for a moment. She knows she can completely knock him out of his head whit completely unexpected comments like that because that was not the answer he was expecting. She starts laughing at his reaction. Then her facial expression turns serious she looks into his eyes. She sees something in his eyes she hasn't seen before. She sees fear and powerlessness. For the first time since he found her, she realizes how much this whole thing has affected him too. How scared he must have been. How powerless he must have felt when she was forced to make that phone call to him. She reaches her hand behind his neck and pulls him in for a long slow passionate kiss. Mac reciprocates the kiss with the same amount of feelings and passion as her. It is the first moment they have to them self since she was found. There have either been police officers, Macs team, Christine's family or doctors around them all the time. Once they break the kiss for much-needed air they just smile at each other and Mac says: "I love you too."

"I'm sorry Mac." Mac look confused at her.

"for what. This whole thing was never your fault at all."

"I think I made the situation worse for you then it had to be."

Mac look confused at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I told them that if they killed me, they would lose the only leverage they had. They asked me why and I told them that my boyfriend is a cop. After that, they started talking about that they could use that to get you away from your team so they could target you personally. I'm so sorry I never thought about that they would psychologically torture you."

Tears start forming in her eyes.

"hey hey. You did what they had to do to survive. I have been in this business a hell of a lot longer than they have. They thought they could play with the big boys but they turned out to be schoolyard bullies wetting their pants in fear." Mac says and that makes Christine smile.

"what did you do to them?"

"ever heard of a game called Russian roulette?" Mac says in a cocky tone. Christine look surprised at him.

"what if the gun had gone off?" Christine is shocked that Mac would even think about playing a game of Russian roulette with a criminal.  
"not much of a game when the gun is empty. I made them think there was a bullet in it. If they had been professional crime mobsters instead of schoolyard bullies, they would have known I was bluffing." Mac says with a smile and kisses her again.

"remind me to never play poker with you," Christine says. Then it knocks on the door. That is the delivery guy with their food.

"no more talk about those scumbags. They are in custody and they can't hurt you or anyone else." Mac says and gives her a kiss on the lips before he walks to the door to get their food.

Christine can't stop thinking about how Mac must have felt about this case and how he dealt with how they tried to torture him by making her deliver the threats on her life to him.

Mac comes into the living room with a bag of food.

"come on let's have some food. You have complained about the hospital food the last few days. I ordered you're favorite Chinese."

Mac is unpacking the bag as he speaks. Christine sits down next to him. Mac opens her box and hands her the box and a pair of chopsticks.

"for you, my love," Mac says with a smile. That makes Christine smile.

"you are so sweet Mac," Christine says.

She takes the box and leans back and starts to eat. Mac also leans back and just looks at Christine as he takes the first bite. Christine looks wondering at him.

"why are you staring at me?" she asks.

"because you are so amazing and I love you."


	5. a perfect morning

**Christine's apartment**

It is about 5 am and Mac is lying awake in his bed with a guilty feeling in his stomach. While he is staring into the darkness while feeling Christine's warm slow breath against his chest he starts to think about everything that has happened over the past year since he got shot. She took care of him for 6 months. She stayed by his side for 6 months and took care of him and helped him through recovery every step of the way without ever asking for anything in return. After he came home from the hospital she stayed with him at his place for 3 months and made breakfast for him every morning so he didn't have to use the minimal strength he had in his body on making breakfast. He starts to feel guilty thinking about how he treated her and kept her in the dark when he realized he suffered from memory loss. How he just shot her out and it almost cost him the best thing that has happened to him since Claire died just because he was being so damn stubborn. He always hated that nagging feeling after an argument but his pride and his damn stubbornness had gotten in his way for days. He looks down at Christine who seems to peacefully asleep on his chest. She truly is the best thing that has happened to him in many years. She has opened up his heart again. He never thought he would fill this way again. When he was with Claire he would sometimes get up early and go to the bakery and pick up fresh bread for their breakfast and set a perfect romantic breakfast for her on a normal weekend just because he felt like it. He never felt like doing anything like that for when he was with Peyton. Everything about his relationship with Peyton had felt so different and somehow wrong and right at the same time but looking back everything about that relationship was always so unpredictable. But with Christine… it has taken some time for him to open up to her but he is starting to feel so comfortable being in a relationship again and everything so naturally right in the world about this. Christine turns to her other side and away from mac. Mac slowly and silently gets out of bed with a good feeling about this day.

 **8 am Christine's apartment**

Christine wakes up when she can't feel Mac on the other side of the bed. She sees the bathroom door is open and the light is turned off. She gets up and puts on her bathrobe. She walks to the kitchen. The breakfast table is set with plates and utensils. She hears the front door opens. Mac comes into the kitchen. He looks surprised at her.

"what are you doing here?" he asks.

"I live here." She says wondering about the nature of his intentions. "what are you doing?" she asks noticing a brown paper bag in his hand.

"nothing." He says and hides the brown bag behind his back. she smiles at him.

"Mac Taylor you are a strange man." Christine laughs and walk over to him and gives him a kiss. Mac fills she reaches out for the brown paper bag. He reacts fast enough to move it out of her reach and moves her in the opposed direction by wrapping his arm around her bag. Christine almost loses her balance, but Mac catches her and they both starts laughing.

"oh my god, Mac."  
"never try to trick me," Mac says in a warning tone before he kisses her.

"then show me what is in the bag."

"you would like to know," Mac says in a teasing tone. Christine looks at him with a smile.

"Kiss me." Christine orders.

"don't try to trick me," Mac says,

"I'll just go take a shower then," Christine says and walks towards the bedroom. She looks back at Mac and pretends to be offended by him. Mac just smiles at her.

About 30 minutes later Christine is standing in front of the mirror in the bedroom where she is drying her hair with a hair blower. She hears Mac roaming around in the kitchen. She also smells freshly brewed coffee and the smell of lighted candles. The curiosity takes over Christine and she turns of her hair blower to go see what he is doing. Right before she gets to the door Mac is standing in the door.

"no peaking," Mac says.

Christine starts laughing about his secrecy. "what are you up to?"

"come on." Mac reaches out and takes her hand. She just smiles at him and let him lead the way to the kitchen. The kitchen table is set with a nice freshly made breakfast. In the middle of the table is a small vase with a red rose in and there are 2 lit candles on the table. Mac lowers the brightness of the ceiling light so it creates a nice gentle romantic light setting over the kitchen. Mac is overwhelmed by the romantic gesture. She turns to face Mac and kisses him with all the love she feels for him.

"you are welcome." Is all Mac says once they break apart.

"but why?" Christine asks after a moment fo looking at the nice setting.

"because I feel like it and because you deserve it."  
"it is really romantic Mac but I don't want you to treat me any differently because of what happened."

"I won't. Cant I just do something nice for the woman I love?" Mac asks.

"sure. And I love it, I just want things to go back to normal, you know."

"hey." Mac says and take her hands and look into her eyes. "remember when I came home from the hospital?" Christine nods. She remembers that time all too well. "you took care of me for 6 months. I haven't exactly been the greatest boyfriend over the past year and I know you being in trouble should not be the necessary wake-up call for me to realize that but unfortunately, it was. I want to take care of you… Not because you were kidnapped and went through hell but… because I love you."  
Christine places her hand behind Mac's neck and pulls him in for a long passionate kiss.

"you are amazing, but…" she says with a determined look. "enough with the mushy stuff. I'm hungry."

That just makes Mac smile at her. She walks over and takes a seat at the table and Mac serves the coffee for her like a gentleman. Christine likes this side of Mac where he is being a gentleman to her. She usually likes to be very independent but sometimes it is nice for her to be treated this way. Mac likes to treat Christine this way. Doing something nice for her and treat her this way is something that he really likes and it makes a little bit of the guilty feeling from the events of the past year go away.


	6. call from Las vegas

After the romantic breakfast Mc and Christine spend the morning together cuddled up together on the sofa. Christine has fallen asleep in Mac's arms while they were watching a movie. Mac gets up and goes to the bathroom and when he comes back, he gets a conference call on his computer. He is surprised when he sees DB Russell's face pop up on the screen.

"Hey Mac, how are you?" DB asks with his always so cheerful voice.

"I'm good DB. How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm good. How is Christine doing? I heard she got home from the hospital."

"yes she came home yesterday. She's going to a psychologist tomorrow. So she is going to be all right."

"I'm so glad to hear that Mac."

"how was the trip back with Jimmy Boyd?" Mac asks in a much lower voice, so Christine doesn't wake up. He doesn't really want to talk about the case when she is around. Mac looks over at Christine to see if she is still asleep. DB notice it.

"she is there?" he asks before answering Macs question.

"yes, but she is asleep. She doesn't need to know about the aftermath."

DB nods in agreement. There is no need to tell Christine about Mac violated the rules and transported a prisoner across the country illegally to save her.

"Jimmy Boyd is out of surgery and he is in custody here in Vegas, so he is going to stand trial here." Mac is happy to hear that. He knows that besides everything that happened justices will be served for both Christine and Boyd's girlfriend who got killed and for Jimmy Boyd's brother. Mac knows he was one of the original kidnappers of Christine but while Christine was in the hospital, she had a nightmare and Mac heard she talked to Shawn Boyd. At the time it had almost sounded to Mac like she had felt bad for Shawn Boyd. Mac hadn't asked Christine about it when she woke up. He didn't see a need to rip anything painful open. Christine did what she had to do to survive. Mac knew that.

"Mac." DB snaps Mac out of his thoughts. "sorry DB."

"hey. No need to apologise I know how hard this one was on you too." Mac nods. He knows if anybody knows how he was feeling doing this case it is DB.

"have you talked to anybody about it?" DB asks. Mac look confused at him so DB elaborates. "you said Christine is going to trauma therapy tomorrow. Have you thought about doing that? Talking to someone about it. they tortured you too."

"I'm fine DB. I have worked with kidnapping cases before."

"yes but never a kidnapping of your own family. It is going to be tough to deal with if you don't talk to anyone." DB insist. Mac is starting to get annoyed with his friend. He knows DB means well but Mac feels selfish everytime anyone asks him how he is doing and he would feel really selfish and almost like he was demeaning the hell Christine went through. He was not the one who was kidnapped. He was not the one who had a gun to his head for almost 4 days.

"DB I'm fine. I can handle it." Mac says in a harder tone then he meant to. DB nods. He has known Mac for years and he knows when he should stop pushing.

"just let me know if you need to talk."

"thanks DB.

Mac looks over at the couch and sees Christine sneaking a peek up over the backrest. She is not fast enough to get down before he sees her. It makes Mac chuckle.

"Morning sleepy head." Mac says Christine sits up. She looks disappointed that he saw her. "not fast enough."

"what time is it?"" Christine asks.

"almost 3 pm."  
"why didn't you wake me up?" Christine asks.

"you were so peacefully asleep.

"that is exactly why you should have woken me up."  
Mac hears DB laughing on the screen. "you two sounds perfect for each other."  
"yeah we do." Mac says. He used to not like when a colleague would get a glimpse into his personal life like this, but for some reason it doesn't bother him anymore.

"Who is that?" Christine asks as she walks over to Mac. He wraps her arms around him and down his chest and rests her head on his shoulder.

"Hey there. I'm DB Russell, from Las Vegas Crime Lab."  
"DB is a friend and colleague of mine from far back."  
"so a former marine?" Christine asks.

"no no. I'm not an American hero kind of type. "DB laughs.

"DB and I have met on forensic conventions every year since I became head of the crime lab."

"well it is nice to meet you. I'm Christine."

"nice to meet you. I am quite aware of who you are. Mac won't shot up about you." DB Says in a teasing tone.

Mac turns more serious. "DB assisted with an investigation of your kidnapping." Mac explains.

"why?" Christine asks and stands up. "they took me before I even got on the plane. I never left New York."

"I know, but… it was in Las Vegas you where discovered missing." Mac explains. Christine is confused not. Mac never told her about how he found out she was missing.

"We found blood and signs of a struggle in your hotel room in Vegas. That was how you were discovered missing." DB explains when Mac doesn't elaborate.

"what do you me we?" Christine asks DB.

"Mac and I. when we arrived at your hotel suite."

"why would you be in las vegas?" Christine asks Mac.

"you never told her?" DB asks Mac. Mac looks up at DB on the screen a little embarrassed about never mention this to Christine.

"nope."

"well I suggest you start talking Mac. And next time you two come to Vegas together dinner is on me. And the tickets will be ready for you, Mac. Just give me a call."

"thanks DB." DB hangs up. Mac looks up at Christine. She has a very determined look on her face.

"start talking. You went to Vegas?"

"yes…" Mac says a little hesitant.

"why? You said you had so much paperwork you couldn't come with me. You lied to me?" Christine asks.

"no." Mac says a little too fast. "I didn't lie. I wanted to surprise you." He finally admits. That softens up Christine a little bit and she has a small smile on her lips when Mac looks up at her again.

"it has been a rough year for us. So I figured we could use some quality time together so I took 4 days off and I went to Vegas so I could meet you at your hotel when your conference was over. I asked DB if he could help me get some tickets."  
"tickets to what?"

"a concert." Mac says relaxed, in a tone that says it was nothing special. Christine fine it hard to believe that it no big deal, as Mac make it sounds like.

"what was the tickets for?" she asks again.

"Celine Dion."

Mac says. He knows how much Christine love to listen to Celine Dion, so he is overplaying the humble attitude. Christine look surprised at him.

"Mac, that is a big deal. You know how much I love Celine Dion."

"hmm… yeah I guess."

Mac stands up and walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Christine follows him. Mac has taken a glass out of the cabin and is filling it with water when Christines comes out to him.

"you said you took 4 days of from work. So that means you are going back to work tomorrow?" she asks in a more serious tone.

"no." Mac says and takes a sit of his water as he leans against the kitchen table. "I spoke to my chief after you were found, and I asked him to get a week off and he said I could take the time I needed so I'll go back to work when I'm ready to it." Mac says and looks down at the floor. Christine can read between the lines.

"you mean when you no longer need to take care of me."  
"no." Mac look up and meet her eyes. "because then I'll never go back." Christine look confused at him until she realizes what he actually just said. "I'll always want to take care of you." That makes Christine smile.

"could you please just for once stop being so sweet and charming and just be serious for a moment?"

Mac nods and tries to be serious, but he really likes when he is distracting her like that. That is one of the things that Mac thinks make them such a great thing. They are both very serious people who are always so focused, so they sometimes need to get distracted and they are really good at distracting each other.

"when are you planning on going back to work?"

"I don't know. I have 3 weeks of vacation time I can use. So it deepens on…"

"don't say it depends on me." She says in a harsh tone.

Mac look over at her with a wondering look. "you really just don't want me to take care of you. Do you?" Mac places the glass on the kitchen counter and walks over to her and wrap his arms around her shoulder and hold her close. He kisses her on top of her head.

"remember what you told me when I was going through recovery after the shooting?" Christine look up at him with a confused look. "you said" I'm not going anywhere." And neither am I. I know you are very strong and very independent, but I am not letting you deal with this alone. I'm right here and I am not going anywhere. "  
Christine places her hand behind his neck and pulls him into her for a kiss.

"I don't want you to." She says with an almost whispering tone before she kisses him again.

"you know now I am just really mad that the kidnapping happened." she says once they break the kiss. Mac look confused at her. "I would really have loved to spend a weekend in Vegas with you." She says in an almost suggestive tone. "just you and me alone for a whole weekend. It sounds almost too good to be true."

"you and I actually get to spend some quality time together… yeah I don't think that is ever going to happen." Mac continues in a sarcastic tone. "it is not like it is just you and I together alone right now. No cell phones ringing no nothing." Mac says.

Christine starts laughing, "okay I got it. it actually does happen sometimes." She looks in to his eyes and their lips meet in a slow passionate kiss. The air in the kitchen is filled with all the love they feel for each other. The kiss is interrupted when it knocks on the door. They break the kiss and look into each other's eyes. None of them once to break the moment and answer the door. But Mac ends up walking to the door to answer once it has both knocked and the doorbell has rung 3 times.


	7. did you actually learn something?

**Note: I always try to be honest to the characters and try to describe them as well as I think I can compare to the show. If you think I way off on a description of a character, please let me know.**

Mac opens the door. He is surprised when he sees who is standing outside the door.

"Adam… what the hell are you doing here?" Mac asks.

"hey boss." Adam says trying to make it sound like it is completely normal that he is standing outside his boss' girlfriends door at 5.30 pm on Macs day off.

"Adam, what are you doing here?" Mac asks.

"Hmm… I… I got an email from the Las Vegas crime lab. From a Julia Finlay."

"yes CSI Finn she was one of the CSIs on Christine's case. You could have just fast forward that to me. You didn't have to show up here." Mac says starting to sound a little annoyed with his young CSI.

"I know boss but there was a folder with everything from miss Withney's phone." Adam says and starts awkwardly fumbling with his hand in his jacket pocket to find something. After a moment where he has taken out his phone, several crumbled pieces of paper and some other things he finally takes out a thumb drive.

"I downloaded it on to this boss." Adam says. Mac looks questioningly at Adam, so Adam elaborates. "it is photos, videos, playlists… all the personal stuff that most people would like to get back." Adam explains and hands the thumb drive to Mac. "I figured she would want that kind of stuff back."

"thank you Adam." Mac says with a smile.

"I haven't looked at it boss. I… I just downloaded it on to the thumb drive right away."

"thank you Adam."

There is a moment of awkward silence where Mac is expecting Adam to leave, but Adam is just standing there.

"anything else Adam?" Mac asks.

"yes… actually. This is the file on Miss Whitney's case. It needs your signature so chief Sinclair told me to give it to you, but Jo told me not to show it to you because it has the interrogation of Nailah Fayed in it." Adam explains as he takes off his backpack and takes out a police file. Mac is about to open the file. "boss…" Adam says before Mac opens the file. Mac looks up at Adam. "it… also have pictures of Christine from when she was processed. Are you sure you want to see them?" Adam asks not sure if he has overstepped a line here. Mac is considering for a moment on whether or not he should look at it but he ends up giving the report back to Adam. "I'll sign I when I am back at work. Leave the paper to sign on my desk." Adam nods in acceptance and takes the rapport back.

"Thanks Adam." Mac just simply says. "how are you doing, Adam?" Mac asks while Adam is placing the rapport back in his backpack. Adam look surprised at Mac for that question.

"I… I am fine, Boss."

"Adam… what about your father?"

"he is not getting better." Adam just simply respond. He is avoiding eye contact now.

"Adam…" Mac says to get Adams eye contact again. Adam looks up. "your girlfriend…" "Michelle" Adam adds, when Mac doesn't remember her name. ""have you spoken with her about it. About what is going on with your father and how you feel about it?"

"yeah. Yeah she knows my father has Alzheimer."

"does she know about your past about what you are going through right now?" Mac asks.

"no. no. I don't want to bother her with that. It is my problem to deal with, not hers."  
"Adam." Mac looks over at the door to see if Christine is there when he heard footsteps. But she is not there. "Adam… you need to speak with her. Tell her what you are going through."  
"we are taking a break right now." Adam admits.

"tell her Adam. If she really is the right one for you then she will be there for you and help you through this okay." Mac says.

"oh… okay. Okay I'll talk to her."

"it might be tough but it is the right thing to do. You shouldn't go through this alone."

"I'm scared, Mac. I am so angry at him. I feel like I'm angry at everything. I am angry at the world, Mac." Adam admits and look up and make eye contact with Mac.

"that is why you need to have someone who can support you. Not just at work, but also at home. Having someone who cares about you is important Adam."

Mac says. Adam nods.

"yeah ill talk to her." In the same moment Adam receives a text. He looks at his phone and a smile spreads on his face.

"that's… that's her boss."

"go." Mac says. Adam nods.

"okay." Adam almost runs down the stairs and out on the street. It makes Mac laugh. He has always found Adams very unique way of life amusing but also fascinating. When Mac hired Adam he thought that Adams knowledge about computers and science made him the right person for the lab but after working with Adam for years he now knows that the special thing about Adam that makes him a great fit for the team and the lab is Adam.

Mac closes the door, with a smile on his face. then he sees Christine is standing in the door to the living room with her arms crossed over he chest and looks at him with a knowing look..  
"what?" Mac asks.

"Mac Taylor? Are my ears deceiving me or have you actually learned something?"

Mac look confused at her.

"What do you mean?"

"did you just tell Adam to speak with his girlfriend instead of dealing with personal issues alone?"

Christine says in a pretend surprise. That makes Mac smile.

"I guess I just did." He says as he walks over to Christine. He gives her a kiss as he walks by her and into the living room. He grabs his wrist and puls him back to her. So they are standing face to face in the door between the living room and the hallway.

"Mac Taylor you are not getting out of this that easy." Mac smiles. He is so close to her all he can look at is her beautiful lips who is teasing him.

"you have actually learned something. Does that me that from now on whenever you have something you are struggling with, you will tell me about it instead of dealing with it alone?"  
"you know…" Mac says and gives her a quick kiss. "it is always so much easier to give advice than it is to take advice. Christine throws her head back in and exclaims a resentful sigh. "Mac Taylor, you are impossible. I give up." She says and walks over to the couch and sits down. He follows her and sits next to her. She has leaned back on the couch and is resting her head on the backrest. Mac does the same and looks into her eyes.

"I'll try but I can't promise you that I want to solo again." Mac says now in a more sincere voice. Christine now looks at him more serious.

"as long as you try that is good enough for me." she says and kisses him.

"but to answer your other question. Yes I have learned something from the past 6 months. I have learned that going to solo means shooting out the most important person in my life. And I am not risking that, ever again."

He leans in and kisses her.

"good. Because I don't want to lose you."

They smile at each other and then the smile turns into a more serious look filled with passion and love that they have for each other.


	8. the future of the relationship

**WARNING: The next 2 chapters are going to be really mushy(emotional, not very sexual). These two chapters deal with some tough subjects.**

 **This is some serious mushy stuff but I like it. please, let me know what you think.**

 **10 pm Christine's apartment**

Mac is sitting on the couch. He is leaning against the corner and is reading a book. Christine is sitting on the other end of the couch and is zapping through tv-channels. There are 2 empty coffee cups on the table. Christine starts to yawn. Mac look over at her and smiles.

"we should go to bed." He says.

"no no. I'm not tired."

"you sound like Lucy now. She is never tired either."

Christine is sitting on her legs. She stretches out her leg en gives Mac's leg a small kick. Mac looks over at her and pretends to be shocked at her behavior, but he can't keep his shocked expression for long. Christine turns off the tv and places the remote on the table and sees the cups is empty.

"there is more coffee. You want some more?" she asks.

"no thanks." Mac says. Christine takes the two empty cups and walks to the kitchen.

"I'm going to bed." She says once she is back in the living room. She leans down over him and gives him a kiss.

"I'll be right there." He says and goes back to finish the chapter in his book.

Christine is already laying in bed when Mac comes into the bedroom. He places his book on the nightstand on his side of the bed and walks to the bathroom and gets ready for bed.

Mac lays down on the bed and Christine immediately moves closer to him. He is laying on his back and she moves closer so she is almost laying on him and she starts kisses his chest and up his neck to his lips.

"Christine…" Mac says to stop her when he feels her hand moving under his t-shirt. She looks surprised at him.

"what?"

"I sorry. I'm really tired."

She looks surprised at him. He has never rejected her before.

""you are too tired?" Christine asks in disbelieve of his excuse.

"yes I'm too tired."  
"Mac Taylor. You have gotten more sleep over the past few days than you usually get in a week and you are too tired. You function at work with 3 hours of sleep."

"I… I just don't feel like it tonight." He explains. He immediately sees the disappointment in her eyes.

She moves over to her own side of the bed and lays on her side with her back to him. He moves over and lays behind her with his arms around her. Usually when he does that she held his hands. Mac knows he has disappointed her, which he never intended to.

"I'm sorry sweetie." He says and kisses her on her cheep. He turns her head to look at him. His face I directly above hers.

"It is alright, Mac." She says but she can see Mac doesn't really believe her so she kisses him to try and convince him but that doesn't really work. They lay down together where Mac is laying behind Christine with his arms around here, but there is an awkward mood in the room until they fall asleep.

 **3 am Christine's apartment**

Mac wakes up and realizes Christine is not in bed. He sits up and turns on his nightstand. He hears crying coming from the living room. He gets up and walks into the Livingroom. Christine is sitting at the dining table with her laptop in front of her. She is resting her head on her hands. She doesn't hear him come. He walks over and stands behind her. He places his hands on her upper arms. She looks at his hands and then looks to down to the side and wipe away the tears that were falling down her face.

"why are you up this early?" Christine asks. She is trying to make her voice sound normal like he didn't notice that she was crying.

"don't do that." He says and takes a seat next to her. She looks away from him. "Christine." He says and places his hands on hers to make her look at him. Tears have started to fall down her face again.

"Mac. Just go back to bed. I'll be there soon." She says. She never makes eye contact with him. Christine notices Mac looks at her computer and she closes the screen down but not before Mac get to see that she has been searching on kidnap victim statistics.

"what is that?" Mac asks when she closes her computer.

"nothing. Go back to bed." Christine says still without making eye contact.

"Christine… what happened today? You have distanced yourself from me since you came home from trauma therapy. Talk to me."

Tears start falling down her face again.

"do you still find me attractive?" she asks and makes eye contact with him for the first time.

"yes of cause I do. Why would you ask me that?" he asks. He is not sure where the conversation is going.

"my psychologist told me today that it is normal that relationships fall apart after a traumatic event where a person is physically harmed. Especially when it is the woman who is harmed."

"Christine hey. I still find you very attractive." That creates a little smile in Christine's face but it doesn't last long.  
"Mac. We haven't been together since I came home." Christine says and wipes away a tear falling down her face.

"we've been together non stop." Mac says trying to lighten the mood.

"Mac… you know what I mean. We haven't been together." Christine says. Mac realizes that his little joke didn't lighten the mood as he intended.

"okay. I know we haven't been together, but believe me it is not because I don't want to." That makes Christine smile.

"Mac…" Christine says but stops herself. Mac removes a tear falling down her face. "Mac, my psychologist asked me today if you had changed behavior towards me since I came home. If you have been treating me differently. He also asked me if you have been more distant towards me since I came home."  
"do you think I have?" Mac asks concerned about her answer.

"no. no. not at first." "at first?" mac asks confused. "when he asked me at the session I was 100% sure that nothing had changed about the 2 of us, but then when we went to bed I started thinking about the things he said and…" "you were not so sure anymore?" mac finishes her sentence. Christine shakes her head. She feels bad when she sees how it affects Mac. "I'm sorry Mac. I didn't mean for this to affect you." She says.

"you have nothing to apologize for. Everything about our relationship involves both of us. You told me that 6 months ago." Christine finds it a bit amusing that he is using her words from when he was struggling with his memory lost against her now.  
"listen, Christine. I know that it might have seemed like I was distance myself from you since you came home from the hospital, but… I have seen too many relationships falling apart after a violent crime. I don't that to happen to ours." Mac explains.

"what usually happens?" she asks. Not sure if she even wants to know the answer or not.

"often after a violent crime a couple they go back to exactly the way things where like nothing ever happened. The problem about that is… things are not the same. Violent crimes often leave both mental and physical scars on the victim. It can change the way a person sees himself. Going right back to the way things where before can make a relationship fall apart because the victim of violent crime has changed. It can be something that the offender did, like touching a person's face and after the crime the victim always relates that with something bad."

"even if it was something that the person used to like?" she asks. Mac nods. She gets his point. "so you are afraid that if we move forward with our relationship too soon it can ruin our relationship?" she asks.

Mac nods. "I don't know what you went through. You might not even know yourself if they did something to you that has changed something that you used to like and now find very uncomfortable."  
Christine looks away from him a wipes a tear away from her faces. She looks back at him with a little smile. "I feel so stupid right now."

"don't…" Mac says. "this is very important to talk about. " it is a concern that you had and we need to discuss that, but…" he says and takes her hands in his. "I can assure you I still find you very attractive. Over the past few days I felt like a teenage boy with a forbidden crush on the prettiest girl at the school." That makes Christine laugh.

"Mac." She says and blushes. "you are so silly and sweet."

"I would be lying if I said I haven't thought about us being together over the past few days, but I know that you need time to deal with what happened to you and the rest will come at some point. When you are ready." Christine looks into his eyes while he speaks. It makes her fall in love with him all over again when he speaks with some much sincerity, love, passion and vulnerability in his voice and every emotion is reflected in his dark eyes. She leans in and kisses him with all the love she feels for him and he reciprocates with just as much love and passion.

"you know I really want to be with you right now." She says and in an almost whispering voice.

"I know. But we need to wait until you are ready… mentally."

"I feel like being in high school again."  
that makes them both love. "I know. Me too. But it is for the best." Christine looks a little disappointed at him but she knows he is right.

"let's go back to bed…" he says and stands up and reaches his hand out to her. He helps her to her feet. She has a smile on her face. "and get some sleep." Heads with a smile.

"you are no fun." She says and follows him to the bedroom.


	9. who needs protection

Christine has been home from the hospital for 5 days now. She has tried to ask Mac about what the kidnappers did to Mac while she was kidnapped but he has refused to talk about it. She is starting to get frustrated about it.

 **Macs apartment**

Christine is walking around in the kitchen in Mac's apartment. She is rinsing down her lunch plaid when her phone rings.

"Hey, Jo. How are you?" Christine says as she answers a call from Jo.

"Hey, Christine. How are you"?

"I'm… I'm okay. How are you and everyone in the lab?" Christine asks.

"well we are missing Mac, but we all know that he needs to be with you right now."

"how are you doing? It must be nice to have Mac home for a week."

"Well…" Christine likes having Mac home but she can't understand why Mac won't talk with her about the kidnapping. He shuts down every time she mentions it. "Jo, can I ask you a question?"  
"sure," Jo says.

"what did the kidnappers do to Mac?"

"Christine…"  
"Jo please tell me. Mac won't tell me."  
"Christine have you thought about why he won't tell me?

"Jo, please. I need to know what happened to Mac. I want to know what they did."

There is a short moment of silence on the other end of the line. "Jo?"

"Christine, they used your phone to make it look like you had been unfaithful to Mac. They also made it look like you had been part of a jewelry store robbery in Las Vegas and they also found a blonde woman matching your description dead in a car. At first, they fought it was you. It turned out to Jimmy Boyd's girlfriend Kim. When they killed Shawn Boyd, they cut out his tongue and mailed it in a box to Mac to taunt him. Making Mac believe it was yours. The guy Zane Kalim taunted Mac in the interrogation room by making him believe that they had done terrible things to you. "  
Christine is shocked by the information. Tears start forming in her eyes. She knows Mac is a tough man and he has probably seen things a lot worst over the year, but she still feels bad about they would use her as a weapon against him.

"I'm sorry Christine. I think the reason why Mac didn't tell you is that he wants to protect you."

"I don't need protection, Jo," Christine says while tears are falling down her face. she is trying to sound angry because nobody wanted to tell her but she also felt sad and worried about Mac. She is trying to hide her tears from Jo, but Jo can hear her voice breaking as she speaks.

"Christine I'm sorry. I think you should talk to Mac. I think the best thing is that you and Mac should work this out together."

"we will Jo."

After her conversation with Jo Christine sits on the floor in the kitchen and is crying. Once she hears the front door opens she gets up and wipe the tears off her face. She stands up and starts finding the ingredients for the cake she had planned to bake. Mac comes into the kitchen with his hands filled with shopping bags. He walks in and places the shopping bags on the kitchen tables. Christine is standing in the kitchen baking a cake. Macs give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, sweetie.

"Hey," Christine says and turns her face away from him and finds her ingredients in the cabin. Mac notice she is turning her face away from him. He has noticed she has been doing that a lot since the kidnapping. Every time she has cried and she is trying to hide it from him. Mac walks over behind her and wrap his arms around her and kisses her neck and her shoulder.

"Mac, please stop."  
Christine walks away from him and stands at the other end of the kitchen from him. She stands with her back to him and takes a moment to gather her thoughts and her strength not to cry before she turns around.

"why won't you tell me the truth about what happened to you while I was kidnapped?"  
Mac looks down at his hands.

"do you think I'm weak?" she looks at him with a determined look. "I am tougher then you think, Mac."

"I know how tough you are," Mac says little too fast so it almost sounds defensive.

"then why don't you tell me what happened? Why do you think you need to protect me?"

Mac looks down at his hands. He takes a moment to choose the right words and to gather his strength to tell her the truth.

"I don't tell you because… not because I want to protect you, but… to protect me."

Christine look surprised at him and waits for him to elaborate.

"I am not telling you about it because I am not proud of what happened to me. What this case did to me. What I became doing this case."

Christine is surprised about that, but she doesn't say anything, waiting for him to explain himself.

"every detective I have worked with has had a case where they got personally involved. One of the greatest young detectives I ever worked with she got so personally involved with a victim of a rape case that she considered planting evidence to get a conviction. I ended up firing her. I have been personally involved in cases before, but never to the extent where I started to question the legal system and that justice would be served."

Christine is just listening to him even though he not at one point look at her.

"I began to doubt everything from the moment I found out you had disappeared. Since the moment I joined the NYPD I have believed that justice will be served as long as the legal procedure was complied with, but…" Mac looks up and meets Christine's eyes. Christine can see pain and sadness in his eyes. "the risk of losing you too… it made me question everything. I did things that could have put everyone around me in great danger and they could all have lost their careers, but… all I could think about was getting you back." Christine walks over to Mac and places her hands behind his neck and look straight into his eyes. "I couldn't live with losing you too." He says. Christine likes when Mac is honest to her and show his more vulnerable side, but she never expected this.

"Mac your team trust you and love you. I'm sure they understand you."

"a few years ago, Flack lost his girlfriend. She was a young detective who was killed in the line of duty and Flack ended up killing the man who killed her. I didn't understand it back then, but now… I do. I was willing to do anything to get you back." Mac looks down again. "I couldn't imagine my life without you." He looks into her eyes with so much love, affection and need. She leans in and kisses him. He has his arms tight around her. He holds her as close to him as possible. He just doesn't want to let go of her.

"Aiden… my young detective, I fired for considering planting evidence, her last dying thing to do was to give me a clue so I could solve her case for her…" Mac looks down. Embarrassed. "over the past four days, I have done more than just thinking about breaking protocol. I violated several protocols to get you back. I went behind my teams back. Flack and Jo covered for me. There would be more than enough evidence to get me fired."  
"Mac…" Christine says and places her hand on his face to get him to look at her. He looks up and meets her eyes.

"they would never do that. They know you were in a vulnerable position. They know people sometimes make irrational decisions in a desperation situation."

"yes but I have punished my team members for doing similar things before."

"Mac… don't beat yourself up for this."

"This case made me become someone that I don't want to be. It is not the kind of man I want to be or the kind of man I want to be for you." Mac says with sincerity looking into her eyes. She pulls him in for a sweet soft kiss.

"you know the kind of man that I like for you to be.? That is exactly the man I see in front of me right now." Mac look confused at her and waits for her to elaborates. She starts smiling. "I love the kind of man who is open and kind and who is not afraid to let his heart out of his chest every once in a while. That is the kind of man that I Love and that is the kind of man that I see you are Mac."

A smile sneaks up on Mac's lips. "one time I got into a heated argument over a case with one of my former teammates, Stella Bonasera. And after the argument, she said that I reminded her of "the old Mac Taylor. Who sometimes let his heart out of his chest about a case."

Christine smiles about his sentimentally. "you know I think you are starting to be a lot like you used to be. Everything that has happened to you in the past has made you the person you are and it has made you to the man that I love."

Mac just looks at her. Smiling and thinking about how much he loves this woman. After Claire died he never thought he would love someone this much again and when Christine was kidnaped that was when he really realized how much he loves her and that he can't spend his life without her.


	10. back to work

Mac has the first day back to work after the kidnapping so he has gotten up early to get ready for work. Christine wakes up by the sound of Mac moving around in the bedroom in the dark. She turns on her nightstand.

"Mac? Why didn't you turn on the light?" she asks sleepily.

"I didn't want to wake you up. Go back to sleep honey."

"you have the first day back at work?"

"yes." Mac is wearing his usual work outfit with a shirt and a black jacket. He places his badges and his weapon on his belt and then walks over to Christine. He sits down on the side of her bed. He leans down a kisses her.

"go back to sleep. You don't have to get up this early."

Christine takes his hand in hers.

"How are you feeling about going back to work?"

"I don't know. I would rather stay here with you. Make sure you are okay."

"I am. I am fine, Mac."

"call me if you need anything okay?"

"go. Go… Make the city safer." Christine says,

"you are kicking me out now?" Mac says surprised. Raising an eyebrow.

"Clearly that is the only way I can get you out of here." She says with a laugh.

"okay:" Mac says with a smile and leans down and kisses her one last time. He stands up and corrects his belt and his gun. Then he leans over and turns off her light before he leaves the room.

"be safe," Christine says before Mac closes the door.

"you know me." Is Macs respond with a smile.

"exactly," Christine says before she pulls her cover over her should and goes back to sleep. Mac leaves the apartment with a smile on his face but also with worry and concern about leaving Christine alone for the first time since she came home. He knows she is a grown woman, but he still feels a certain need to protect her and keep her from harm's way.

 **The crime lab**

Mac is having a briefing with his team but Jo notice that Mac seems very distracted and he keeps looking at his phone.

"Mac…" Jo says interrupting Hawkes who is informing the team about the medical report on the second victim in their case the team has been working on over the past week. Mac looks up from his phone that he has looked at for the 5th times in 5 minutes.

"call her," Jo says. Mac look confused at her and then around at the team. "who?" Mac asks.

"the queen," Danny says. He has noticed Mac's distraction too. That makes Adam, Hawkes, Danny, and Flack laugh. Jo and Lindsay don't seem to find it as funny as their male colleagues.

"Christine. Call Christine." Mac pretends to not understand what she is talking about.

"why would I call Christine? She is home she is fine." Mac says and stuffs his phone in his jacket pocket.

"because you want to. You have checked your phone 5 times in 5 minutes." Jo says.

"are you keeping me under surveillance?" Mac asks a little irritated. Jo has noticed Mac being on the edge all day.

"Mac…" Lindsay says. "we are concerned about you… and Christine." Lindsay explains.

"no need to. Christine is home. She is fine."

"are you?" Danny asks. Mac looks at Danny with a questioned look. "you are not the only one who has been a traumatic situation where you nearly lost the woman you love. I know how it feels."

"I don't need any psychanalysis, Danny." Mac stands up and leaves the conference room.

"let's give him some space," Jo says and the team continues the briefing.

Jo exits the elevator and notices Mac, who is sitting in his office. He is just starring out over the city skylines. Jo walks into the office without knocking on the door.

"haven't you heard about knocking Jo?" Mac asks without turning his chair around to face her. Jo just smiles and walks over to Mac. She is a few steps behind his chair when she notices he is sitting with his photo of him and Christine in his hands.

"Mac." Jo just places a hand on his shoulder. Mac just looks down at the photo. Then he turns around and places the photo back on his desk and tries to put on his usual poker face.

"what do you have Jo?" Mac asks.

"concerns… for you." Mac signs heavily. He was hoping Jo would just let it go and focus on the case.

"Jo." Mac looks at the photo again. "I can't call her. She would tell me I'm a softy and that I am checking up on her." It makes both Mac and Jo smile. It is only very few people who know that Mac actually is a big softy, but it takes a long time for people to get to know the softer side of Mac.

"does it matter?" Jo asks. Mac looks up at Jo for the first time since she entered the office. Jo clearly sees the pain and worry in his eyes. Jo takes Mac's phone from the table and quickly finds Christine's number before Mac gets any protest in.

"Are you checking up on me?" is the first thing Christine says when she answers the phone. Jo is holding Mac's phone in her hand. She has a big smile on her face. Mac has an expression that says I told you so, but JO doesn't seem to care and she reaches the phone out to Mac. Mac just looks up at Jo.

"Hello… Mac are you there?" Christine asks when no one is answering. Jo hands Mac the phone and leaves the office. Mac takes the phone and turns around and looks out over the skylines.

"hey, honey. How are you?" Mac asks.

"I'm fine…" she says. mac can hear that isn't 100% true. "where you checking up on me?" she asks in a teasing tone.

"no…" He says a little too fast. "I didn't call you…" Mac realizes that sounded a bit wrong. So he explains. "It was Jo. She took my phone. That makes Christine laugh. She knows Mac would be too stubborn to actually call her because it would make him look soft. But Jo… she has never been bothered by Mac's tough marine face so she probably took his phone and called her for him to force his hand.

"Mac I am fine." Christine tries to sound more convincing but she knows she fails right away. "Christine you don't fool me," Mac says and Christine signs in defeat. "I am okay, Mac."

"Promise me you will call me if you need anything?" Mac says with concern.

"could you bring some chips home?" she asks and they both start laughing.

"sure." It knocks on the door and Mac turns around in his chair. Lindsay is standing there in the door. Mac signals to her that she can come in.

"I gotta go, Christine. I love you, Christine." He says right before Lindsay enters his office.

"I love you too, Mac." She says before she hangs up. Mac places his phone on the table and turns his business face back on and is ready to focus on the case.

"Christine?" Lindsay asks. Mac nods. "how is she?"

Mac just looks down. He isn't sure how to answer.

"she is getting better." Mac says and looks over at his picture on his desk before he turns back to Linsay. "what do you have?" he asks and Lindsay gets back to business. Mac tries really hard to focus on the case but his mind does keep wandering back to Christine. He keeps thinking whether it was to soon he got back to work. He smiles to himself when he thinks of how Christine would have laughed at him and kicked his butt out of the door if he had told her that he wanted to stay home to take care of her. she is not going to let him do that. She is too strong and independent to let him do that.


	11. walk in the park and future dreams

walk in the park and Future dreams

 **Christine's apartment**

Mac and Christine are in Christine's apartment. They are sitting on the couch watching tv. Christine has been home from the hospital for 7 days. She is getting restless about being in the apartment. She takes the tv-remote and turns off the tv.

"hey." Mac says, "I was watching that."

"I'm going crazy Mac. I need to get out of here."

At the same moment Mac's phone rings. Mac answers it but no one is responding in the other end. He saw on the caller id that it was a call med from Lindsay's phone.

"Lucy, what are you doing with my phone?" Lindsay asks at a remote distance from the phone. "I'm calling Maggi," Lucy responds to her mother much closer to the phone. Lucy must have taken Lindsay's phone and called Mac without permission from her mother.

"Lucy, I told you not to call Mac." Lindsay says now a lot closer to the phone. "but mommy I want to go sledding with Maggi." Lucy explains. The little girl is clearly frustrated about her mother's failure to cooperate. "but Mommy why can't I ask Maggi and Christine to come sledding with me. Christine doesn't have to come if she doesn't want to, Mommy." Lucy tries. It amuses Mac and Christine. Mac has put his phone on speaker so Christine can listen in on the conversation too. "Lucy Mac is taking care of Christine right now after she came home from the hospital. You can ask Mac to go sledding with you next week when he is back at work. "but mommy…" the little girl tries desperately. "end of conversation Lucy. Give me my phone back and go put on your clothing so we can go to the park." Lindsay says with clear annoyance in her voice. "oh, alright mommy." Lucy says just as annoyed with her mom as her mom clearly is with her. Then the call gets disconnected.

"how about a walk in central park?" Mac asks Christine after they have stopped laughing about Lucy and Lindsay's discussion.

"Sounds good to me," Christine says and gives him a kiss before she gets up from the sofa.

"where are you going?" he asks once he sees she is walking towards the bedroom.

"I am changing. Do you think I would leave in my PJ?" Christine says.

"It would probably be a little chilly," Mac says with a smile.

Christine just shakes her head and walk to the bedroom and get changed. While she is getting changes, Mac goes and put on his shoes and his jacket. Christine joins Mac in the hallway. She puts on her jacket and her boots and stands in front of the mirror to set her hair. She suddenly stops and just stares into the mirror. Mac notices it and is wondering what is going on. After a moment where she is just starring in the mirror without a word, Macs walks over to her.

"what is going on?" he asks.

"I think we should stay in." she just says.

"why?" he asks. He can hear in her voice that something is going on.

"I don't want to go out Mac."

Mac is standing behind her with his arms around her looking into her eyes through the mirror.

"why not? All I see in that mirror is pure beauty. So tell me what is going on in that busy head of yours."

Christine takes a moment before she can explain to Mac what is going on.

"I have that big bruise on my face. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about it." Christine explains.

"hey. This is New York. If there is anything, I have learned from being a detective in this city is that nobody ever pays any attention to anybody in this city."

That makes Christine smile.

"is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asks.

Mac likes that he can get her to smile again.

"right now, it is a good thing. As a detective who would like to get eyewitness statements… a really annoying thing. A mole sees more than people in this city."

That makes Christine laugh and almost forget about the bruise on her forehead. Mac makes her turn around to face him.

"listen, Christine. You have some scars… both physically and mentally that you have to deal with for a while." The smile disappears on her face again and she looks down. She doesn't like Mac to see the tears forming in her eyes. "but…" he says and waits for her to look at him again. "you don't have to hide away from the world because of it. No one out there knows what you went through. What matters is that you deal with it and that you eventually make your peace with it. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. Okay?" he says. She nods.

"how do you always know how to say the right things, Mac?"

Mac gives her a kiss and smiles at her.

"get ready and let's go get some fresh air.

"Okay."

 **Central Park**

It is a cold February day in New York and there is snow on the grass. A lot of kids are out sledding with their parents. The sun is shining above the skyscrapers. There isn't much wind, so it is cold but not freezing. Mac and Christine walk hand in hand by a hill near a playground. There are a lot of kids sledding on the small hill. In the summer Mac sometimes take Lucy to this playground. Christine is getting cold, so she is leaning closer to Mac. He lets go of her hand and wraps his arms around her. she almost trips but he catches her before she falls and they both start laughing.

"Are you getting too cold?" Mac asks concerned and kisses her.

"no, it is fine." Christine leans in and kisses Back passionately. Their kiss is broken when Mac is hit in the back by a snowball.

"no daddy doesn't do that to Maggie." Mac and Christine look over where Lucy is running towards them. She is wearing her winter coat and skiing pants and winter boots. On her head, she has a pink had with pink braids hanging from her hand. She runs over and hugs Mac.

"Hey Lucy," Mac says and picks Lucy up. She first hugs Mac and then she turns her body while Mac is holding her so she can hug Christine. Then she turns back to Mac.

"I told Daddy not to throw snow at you." Lucy says determinedly. "but he didn't listen."

Lucy is clearly disappointed about her father disobeying her orders.

"well, I appreciate you tried Lucy," Mac says but he has difficulties hiding his amusement about his goddaughter. Lindsay and Danny have finally made their way to them.

"so, you don't like your job, Danny?" Mac asks. Danny just has a big grin on his face.

"Wow hey a few years ago you asked me to set you on fire and now you are mad about me throwing an innocent snowball at you?" Mac just smiles. He isn't really upset about the snowball.

"set you on fire?" Christine asks shocked and looks at Mac.

"It was for a case," Mac explains nonchalantly.

"that doesn't make it any better," Christine says still shocked about the information. Mac leans over and kisses Christine to calm her down.

"get a room," Daddy says and gets a punch on the shoulder by his wife in response.

"Can I get a kiss?" Lucy asks Mac once he breaks the kiss with Christine. Mac just smiles and places a quick kiss on his goddaughter's cheek.

"me and mommy and daddy are going to the playground do you want to come, Maggi?" Lucy asks. "Christine can come too," Lucy says to try and convince her godfather. Mac and Christine look at each other. Christine approves with a silent nod.

"Okay, that sounds like fun," Mac says and puts Lucy down on her feet. She walks over and takes her little red plastic sled that her mom was pulling.

"I went Sledding with daddy," Lucy says as she is pulling the little red sled after her in one hand while she is holding Mac's hand in the other. They walk over to a little playground. There is an empty bench near a coffee cart where they can sit while Lucy runs to the playground to play. She gives her dad a direct order to watch her sled so no other kid can take it. once Lucy has run over to the playground where she is going to the slide first Danny looks over at Mac.

"you know it is because of you she is giving orders," Danny says. Mac look confused at him. "you call her the mini-boss when she is with you, so now she thinks she is the mini-boss." Danny says in a serious tone while Lindsay and Christine are laughing.

While Danny and Mac start talking about work Christine seems distance in her thoughts.

"you are okay?" she is snapped out of her thoughts when Mac places his hand on hers.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Mac looks over at the direction where Christine was looking. There are two elderly women sitting on a bench not far from them. They are sitting and chatting while they are looking towards Mac and Christine.

"don't pay attention to it," Mac whispers to her and kisses her on the cheek.

"Christine." Lucy comes running over to them and runs straight to Christine.

"There is a little girl I just played with her name was also Christine."

"that is great Lucy," Christine says. Lucy climbs up and sits next to Christine.

"Daddy I'm thirsty," Lucy says.

"well, I think they have hot chocolate at that coffeeshop too," Mac says. Lucy lights up in a smile. "how about you and I go get some hot chocolate Lucy." Lucy nods eagerly.

"and for Christine too," Lucy says determinedly.

"yes of course for Christine too," Mac says and then Lucy jumps down from the bench and takes Mac's hand and they walk to the coffee cart together. Christine looks after them for a moment until they are standing in line with the coffee cart then she turns back to Danny and Lindsay.

"When are you due?" Christine asks Lindsay.

"in a few months," Lindsay says and runs her hand over her baby bump. "I am so ready for this pregnancy to be over." Lindsay says tiredly. "this basketball is driving me nuts."

"hey, be nice to my little boy," Danny says and runs his hand over her baby bump too.

"is it your body it is kicking nonstop and is it you he is keeping awake every night?" Lindsay says annoyed. "no. then be on my side."

"I love you too, babe," Danny says and places a quick kiss on Lindsay's lips.

"have you and Mac talked about kids?" Lindsay asks and turns back to Christine.

"no…" Christine says and looks back over at Mac and Lucy who has moved a few spots forward in the line.

"Sorry I asked Christine," Lindsay says.

Christine turns back to Danny and Lindsay.

"It is alright." Christine says and tries to force a smile on her face. "please don't look at me like that." She says when she notices how Danny and Lindsay have the same look on their faces as the entire team did the day she was in the hospital after she was found.

"Sorry, Christine," Lindsay says.

"I love being around Lucy. She doesn't see me as a victim. To her, nothing has changed." Christine says and looks over at Mac and Christine.

"what about Mac?" Danny asks. "has he changed?"

"no, he hasn't…" Christine says, and a smile comes upon her face.

"has Mac changed at work?" Christine asks Danny and Lindsay.

"you mean besides being a lovesick teenage boy every time he calls you? no." Danny says and then they all start laughing.

"what are you laughing at?" Lucy is now standing right next to them.

"just adult thing sweetie," Lindsay says.

"Christine, will you help me?" Lucy asks.

"sure. What do you need Lucy?"

"to go over there." Lucy points to a bakery across the street.

"to the bakery? Christine asks.

"yes, Mac asked me to. He gave me money." Lucy explains and shows Christine the money Mac gave her. "he also told me what to buy." Lucy explains.

"Okay," Christine says and gets up. Lucy takes her hand and they walk to the traffic light to cross the street.

Lucy and Christine went into the bakery and Lucy bought the 2 things that Mac had told her to. A cinnamon roll and another cake. Then they leave the store. As they walk out of the bakery a couple with a stroller walk by.

"are you and Maggi going to have a baby?" Lucy asks as they walk to the traffic light.

"what?" Christine asks surprised about the unexpected question.

"mommy and daddy are having a baby. Are you and Maggi." Lucy asks curiously.

"no, we are not."

"you don't want to have a baby?" Lucy asks. they arrive at the traffic light and Lucy presses the button to wait for the green pedestrian light.

"it is not that I don't want to have babies Lucy."

"Maggi wants to have babies," Ludy says. it then turns green and Lucy and Christine walk across the walking path.

"he told you that," Christine asks.

"no." Lucy says. "but he says that babies are a good thing."

"it is," Christine says. she starts smiling at the idea of Mac as a baby daddy.

"are you and Maggi going to get married then?" Lucy asks as they reenter the playground park area.

"I don't know. Why do you ask."

"because I think you should?" Lucy says.

"you think so?" Christine asks with a smile. Lucy looks up at Christine.

"yeah because then you have to wear a big nice princess dress and then I can wear one too," Lucy says. it makes Christine smile.

"really?"

"yeah."

Mac, Danny, and Lindsay are sitting at the bench each with a coffee cup when they hear Lucy and Christine approach them. Lucy walks over to Mac and hands him the bag with the stuff she just got for him. he hands her a cup of hot creamy chocolate in return. Before Christine gets to sit down next to Mac on the bench Lucy has already taken her seat and Christine sits down next to Lucy instead.

"Lucy gets over her so Christine can sit there," Lindsay says.

"why?" Lucy says angrily at her mother. "why can't I sit next to Maggi. I have to ask Maggi a question, mommy." Lucy says very persistently.

"It is alright," Mac says to Lindsay. Lucy takes a sip of her hot cocoa and then she looks up at Mac. She now has a chocolate mustache which amuses Mac but he doesn't comment on it. Mac takes out the pastry that Lucy got and hands Lucy her cinnamon roll and she quickly takes a large bite of it. Mac then takes out the out piece of pastry and shares it with Christine, Danny, and Lindsay.

"Maggi, I have a question," Lucy says determinedly.

"Okay." Mac adjust so he is paying full attention to Lucy's apparently very important question. "are you and Christine having a baby?"

Mac Look surprised at Lucy and is nearly choking on his coffee. "No not that I know off at least." He says and then looks over at Christine who shakes her head. "why are you asking Lucy?"

"because I think you should. So I can have someone to play with when I visit you." Lucy says and takes another sip of her hot cocoa.

"you and I play when you visit me," Mac says trying to talk Lucy out of her idea.

"yeah but… I don't sleep in your bed any more like I did before Christine was your girlfriend. So, I need to have someone else who can sleep in my room, with me."

"I see…" mac says attempting to sound understanding to Lucy's reasoning, which amuses Christine.

"and also, sometimes you don't have time to play with me, so I need someone else to play with."

"but Lucy…" Christine says, deciding to try and save Mac from Lucy's interrogation. Lucy turns to face Christine.

"you are going to have a brother or a sister, soon right?" Christine asks. Lucy nods eagerly.

"so that means when you and your brother are coming to visit Mac you will have your brother to play with and you and your brother will be sleeping in the same room together."

"no…" Lucy says quickly, which makes Christine look surprised at her. "my sister is going to sleep in mommy and daddy's room. Mommy told me that." Lucy says and takes a sip of her hot cocoa.

"Yeah that is when you and your sister are home with your mom and dad, but when you and your sister or brother are visiting Mac, the two of you are going to sleep in the same room, right."

"no…" Lucy says. it amuses Mac how Lucy just doesn't seem to accept any of Christine's arguments. "why would my sister visit Maggi? He is my Godfather. Not my sisters." Lucy says determinedly. "she can have her own god daddy. Not take mine." Lucy says and hugs Mac's arm. Mac leans an arm around Lucy and hugs her sideways.

"my Maggi," Lucy says and looks over at Christine with a big smile.

"mine too," Christine says with a teasing smile and leans over Lucy towards Mac.

"noo…" Lucy yells loud and pushes Christine away.

"Christine you know Lucy is right, right?" Danny says. everyone looks at Danny bewildered.

"what do you mean?" Christine asks.

"you said Mac is your too." Christine nods. "I don't see a ring so technically Lucy is right. She is legally his goddaughter." Danny says with a big teasing smile. Lindsay gives Danny a push on the shoulder as a response while Mac just meets Christine's eyes in a loving glance. They lean closer and meet in a sweet kiss over Lucy's head.

"no," Lucy says and tries to push Christine away from Mac, but it doesn't work until they willingly break the kiss.

 **Macs apartment**

Mac comes into the Livingroom with two cups of coffee. Christine is sitting on the couch. she is starring into the air. She seems lost in her thoughts. Mac sits down next to her and places the cups on the coffee table. He leans over and kisses her on the cheek. That makes her look at him.

"what were you thinking about?" he asks. she just looks at him and smiles.

"you… me… us…." She says.

"about what?" Mac says and hands her the cup of coffee. "dumping me?" he jokes.

"no." She says and playfully pushes him on the shoulder. He takes her cup from her and places it on the table before he pushes her back and the lays down on her back and he leans over her. he rests his weight on his arms securely places next to her on the couch.

"I wouldn't do that." She says and places his face down to her and kisses him.

"it didn't spook you what Danny and Lucy said today?" Mac asks.

"spooked me…no. got me thinking? Yes." Mac looks surprised at her.

"kids? Marriage?" he asks.

"maybe…" he wasn't expecting that answer. He sits up and takes his cup of coffee. Christine quickly sits up too. She is afraid she might have spooked him.

"I didn't mean to spook you or pressure you," Christine says and places a hand on his face.

"you didn't." he quickly says and looks over at her. he leans in and kisses her and then he looks away from her again.

"so, then talk to me," she says worriedly. The kiss didn't convince her.

"I was sort of thinking about asking you… in Vegas, but…" he says not sure about how she will react to this.

"but…" she asks for him to continue.

"I wasn't sure if you want to…" he adds. "you haven't mentioned anything about it," he says and finally looks over at her.

"you have been married before. I know Claire will always be your true love so I wasn't sure if you could ever even consider me to be more than just…" she looks away from him. he noticed how her eyes started to fill with tears.

"Wow hey. Look at me," he says and places his hands on her cheeks. She turns her face turns him, but she isn't looking into his eyes.

"look at my eyes," he orders. After a little while she does as he says. "don't ever think that I don't love you. I do… I Loved Claire… I really did. But you are not just some second choice. I love you, Christine. Don't ever doubt that. Okay?" he says. She can see the sincerity and live in his eyes and she believes every word he says. he kisses her and the kisses grow more heated and he gently pushes her back down on her back and leans over her. after a few minutes, she stops him. he looks surprised at her.

"you thought about asking me while in Vegas?" she asks.

"yeah but not for the right reason." He admits. She looks confused at him.

"This case and realizing that you were missing, made me realize even more how much I love you and I don't want to lose you. But that is not the right reason." She looks confused at him. "love is not the right reason or marriage?" she asks confused. "no." he says with so much sincerity and love in his eyes and at the same time a hint of fear, which scares her. "Fear should not be the reason for marriage. It should be love. I don't want to marry you because I am scared of losing you. I want to marry you because I love you."

She pulls him down for a sweet passionate kiss. "that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me." she says, and it makes him smile and he kisses her again.


	12. it is going to be a good day

**Note: I hope you enjoy this. it is short but… I am almost at the end of this story. As always please enjoy and let me know what you think.**

It is about 8 am when Christine wakes up to the smell of freshly made coffee and the sound of Mac making pancakes coming from the kitchen. For the first time since she came home from the hospital a week ago, she hasn't had a nightmare. She has gotten a good night's sleep and Mac has the day off. She gets out of bed with a good feeling about this day. She gets out of bed and put on her bathrobe and walks to the kitchen. Mac is standing with his back to her while he is flipping a pancake. She walks over to him and wraps her hands around him and slide her hands up his chest. She rests her head against the back of his shoulder.

"good morning, handsome." She says in an almost whispering seductive tone.

"morning," Mac says with a smile and chuckle.

"aren't you turning around so you can give me a kiss?" Christine asks. Mac hesitates before he turns around to face her. Christine is shocked when she sees Mac has a big wound across the bridge of the nose.

"oh my god, Mac. How did you get that?" Christine asks. "have you been at work doing the night?"

"no," Mac says and places the plate with the pancake on the table.

"How did you get that? If you have been in bed with me all night and not been out. Then how did you get that?" she asks shocked.

"it is not important." He says and gives her a kiss. "let's have breakfast." He says with a smile and kisses her on her forehead.

"no, Mac. Tell me how you got that wound on your nose."

Mac looks down at the floor. He walks over in front of her and takes her hand and lightly touches her hand.

"do you remember what you dreamed about last night?" Mac asks and looks into her eyes. The smile she has had on her face disappears. She has a much more serious and surprised look on her face.

"I didn't dream anything. It is the first night since I came home from the hospital that I haven't had nightmares." Christine explains. "But what does that have to do with your wound?"

"I don't want you to feel bad about this."

Christine looks confused at him. Waiting for him to elaborate.

"you had a nightmare. You were screaming and crying in your sleep. I woke up. I snuggled into you. I wanted to hold you close to me to comfort you. You knocked me down instead."

Mac feels bad about telling her the moment he sees the guilt in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Mac," Christine says,

"I just got a bloody nose. I went to the bathroom and cleaned it up and then I went back to bed. In the meantime, you seemed to have fallen back to a peaceful sleep. A few hours later I woke up again and your bad dream seemed to be back. You were screaming and crying again. So, I… did the same again. Snuggled into you to try and comfort you, and you…"

"knocked you down again?" Christine asks shocked. Mac nods.

"yeah."

"I'm so sorry sweetie," Christine says and wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him.

"It is my own fault."

Christine looks wondering at him.

"you already knocked me down once. The definitions of insanity are doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Doing the same thing 4 times is starting to point towards insanity." Mac says with a smile.

"I thought you said I knocked you down 2 not 4 times."

"you have done It twice before over the past week."

Christine look surprised at him.

"Why haven't you told me that?"

"I didn't want you to feel bad about it. It is not your fault that you have bad dreams. You have enough to focus on right now."

Christine looks at Mac with a sweet smile.

"Mac. You are the sweets man I have ever known, but…" Mac doesn't like that sound of a but in that sentence. "you are also the most selfless man which is really sweet and kind of sexy, but…" that makes Mac smile and she gives him a quick kiss. "please don't hide that kind of things from me." Mac kisses her and then rests his head against hers. "okay I promise." They are standing together just enjoying the closeness of each other for a moment.

"let's get some breakfast," Christine says.

They sit down at the table and start eating.

"do you have therapy today?" Mac asks while he is putting butter on his pancake.

"No. Not until Monday," Christine says. She takes a sip from her coffee. "I was thinking after we go to the doctor we could go for a walk in the park."

"why would we go to the doctor. I thought your physical medical check was fine." Mac says concerned.

"yes but yours clearly isn't. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?" Christine asks.

"if I am going to the doctor and they ask what happened what am I supposed to tell them? My girlfriend knocked me down in her sleep? Yeah, I don't think so."

Christine starts laughing at him.

"how about…" Mac says and reaches over the table to hold her hand. "you and I stay in all day and just relax."

"Mac Taylor not doing any work for a full day. I'll see that before I believe it." Christine teases.

"I'll prove that to you."

Christine nods and their eyes meet in a sweet moment.

"but 1 thing… let me please clean that wound for you." Christine says.

"Okay, I'll let you do that." He says in a tone that sounds like he surrenders. "after breakfast." Mac says determined and takes a bite of his pancake.

"you are a tough negotiator." Christine teases and takes a bit of her pancake.

 **Note: this little chapter was inspired by my sister who had nightmares about spooky clowns, and she knocked her boyfriend down in her sleep when he tried to comfort her.**


	13. back to reality

**Note: slightly suggestive comments in this chapter. If you don't like that. Please don't read it. otherwise. Enjoy and let me know what you think. There is one more chapter left of this story. Sorry I have been so slow to update it. life comes in the way of creativity sometimes.**

It is Monday morning. Mac wakes up by the sound of thunder outside and by the quick flash of lightning that is lightning up the entire bedroom. He reaches over to the other side of their bed. The side of the bed Christine should be sleeping is cold and empty. He slowly opens his eyes to check the nightstand alarm clock. It says, 5.10. She shouldn't be up yet. He is usually the one to get up early, and she often complaints that he is always waking her up too soon. He gets out of bed, and the moment his bare feet hit the floor, he wants to get back into bed, but that fact that Christine is up this early and that the bed is cold, which tells him she must have been up for a while worries him. He walks into the living room. The light is off, but Mac can see that she is sitting on the couch. He can only see her from the skyline light that is coming in through the window. He walks over to her. She is sitting completely still on the couch, just staring into the air. There is a cup of what he assumes must be either coffee or tea on the coffee table, but it isn't steamy, so it must have been there for a while too.

"you are okay?" he asks, placing his hands on her shoulders.

She gets surprised. "gess Mac. Don't sneak up on me like that." She says once she has recovered the shock.

"what is going on?" he asks and sits down next to her. He takes her hands in his. They are cold. She must have been sitting out here for a while.

"I couldn't sleep. You can just go back to sleep. It will be a while before you need to get up."

"okay. Let's go back to bed." He says and takes her hand and is trying to pull her to her feet.

"no, you can just go." He sits down next to her.

"I go where you go." He says.

"you are so damn stubborn. I'm not in the mood for games." She says, a little irritated.

"so, tell me what is on your mind? I can see that busy brain of yours working," he says and sees her lips curve up a bit.

"I was just thinking."

"about what?" she looks over at him.

"work. I am going back to work today, remember?" He nods.

"you don't have to if you don't want to. You can wait until you are ready."

"no, I need to." She says persistently. "I'm not sick, Mac. I can't stay home forever."

"what you went through, Christine. You need to take your time to recover." He says and gently touches her hands.

"I can't hide from the world in this apartment forever, Mac." She snaps. She didn't mean it to sound as harsh as it did.

"I'm sorry." She quickly says.

"don't apologize. I get it. You want to go back to your restaurant and do what you love to do. I get that."

"what am I going to tell them?" she asks and looks at him with despair in her eyes and in her voice. "jimmy? They are going to ask about him. Where he is what happened? What am I going to tell them?"

"whatever you want."

"Thanks, mac. What a help you are." She says, irritated, and stands up. She walks back and forth in front of him. All he can do is watch her.

"he was your restaurant manager. You told me before all of this happened that you were going to fire him. You could tell them that you fired him. they don't need to know that he was behind all of this."

"I don't want to lie to them, Mac." She says and sits back down next to him. "I feel like they deserve to know the truth."

"Okay." He says and waits for her to continue.

"I'm just not sure how to tell them the truth."

"you want me to be there? I can take the day off."

"no." she quickly says and then realizes it could sound like a rejection of his support more than just a decline of his offer.

"I'm sorry. I really love everything you do for me, but I feel like I need to deal with this part on my own. It is my restaurant and my employees. I need to handle it on my own, Mac." She says and leans over and places a passionate kiss on his lips.

"Okay." He says with a smile when they break the kiss. He wraps his arms around her.

"you are so warm." She says and leans into him closer.

"so was the bed." He says.

"you really just want me into bed, don't you?" she asks with a smile.

"can you blame me?" he asks and lays down on the couch with her in his arms. She is laying halfway on top of him. It makes her laugh.

"you are impossible, Mac."

"I am a lucky man," he says and places a kiss on her head. "I am in a relationship with an amazing, strong, and not to forget, incredibly attractive women. You can't blame me for wanting to spend some quality time with her."

"and that has to be in bed?" she asks playfully.

"well, it could be right here too." He says, playing along with her game. She raises up to look at him and pretend to be shocked about his suggestion.

"Mac."

"you started it," he says with a big smile. Christine leans down and kisses him, and the kisses quickly grow more heated.

Mac wakes up and looks around to find out where he is. He is sleeping on the couch in the living room with a blanket over him. He then hears footsteps from bare feet entering the living room. Christine is standing at the end of the couch with a cup of steaming coffee. She is wearing one of his NYPD-shirts. He smiles at her, remembering why he is now laying on the couch instead of being in his bed.

"morning." He says with a smile. She just smiles and blushes from the way he is looking at her.

She pushes his leg aside so she can sit down on the couch. He sits up and wraps his arms around, and places kiss down her throats.

"Are you feeling better about going back to work today?" he asks as he takes the coffee cup from her and takes a sip. The coffee isn't strong enough for his taste, but for now, he just needs some caffeine to wake him up. He isn't as young as he used to be as much as he hates to admit it.

"Yeah, I guess." She says and kisses him. "we should do this more often."

"at five in the morning?" he asks with a raised eyebrow.

"what you don't think you can keep up?" she asks, teasing.

"We are not 25 anymore." He says and kisses her again.

"It sure felt like it earlier." She says and places the coffee cup on the table and stands up. She is about to walk away when he grabs her hand and pulls her towards him. She nearly falls down on the couch, but he catches her and gently places her down on the sofa and he leans over her.

"We need to get ready for work, Mac." She says despite that, she really just wants to continue what he is doing right now. Trailing kisses down her throat and his hand roaming under her shirt. She knows she must be the one to stop it before they both get late for work.

"I am the boss. I can be late whenever I want to. And so are you." he says, trailing kisses down her throat.

"Mac." She says, determined, and pushes him off.

"you know we can't," she says determinedly. They both sit up.

"I know why you are doing this. you are trying to make me forget about my worries about going back to work." She says and places a hand on his face. "and it is charming, but I need to face it sooner or later."

"did it work?" he asks with a serious look, but he can't keep a smile off his face, and they both start chuckle.

"Yeah, it did. But we both know it isn't the solution." She says, and he nods. He knows she is right; he just doesn't like that he can't fix the problem for her. She needs to handle it herself. He knows she is strong, and she can do it but, he doesn't like issues that he can't solve or disappear.

It is about 10 pm when Mac parks his car outside of Christine's restaurant. It seems quiet. All the customers are gone. As he walks into the restaurant, he hears laughter coming from the kitchen. Mac walks over to the swing door leading to the kitchen. He hears Christine's sweet laughter. He walks into the kitchen, and immediately everyone is looking over at him.

"Hey, Mac." Christine greets with a big smile.

"want a beer, Detective?" one of the young women asks.

"seriously. You do know he is the boss's boyfriend, right?" another young girl says.

"Yeah, so." The first one who offered Mac a beer says.

"Okay, ladies, time to clean up." Christine orders and gets up.

"Yeah, ladies." One of the young men sitting next to Christine says and takes another sip of his beer.

"you too, Nick. Get a broom." Christine says and takes the beer bottle from him.

"what about you?" one of the young girls asks Christine.

"what about me?"

"I thought you said we were all going to help clean up if we wanted to stay for a beer."

"I am staying," Christine says, persistent.

"I just thought you were going to leave now that Captain America is here." The girl says, referring to Mac.

"Captain America is Army. I'm a marine." Mac says in a casual tone and all of the employees except the young girl whom Mac was talking to starts laughing.

"Get your facts straight, Amanda." One of the boys says teasingly.

"Mac, come one." Christine says and takes Mac's hand. "all of you start cleaning." Christien orders out loud.

"ahh, she just wants some smush time with her boyfriend." One of the girls says teasingly, and everyone starts laughing.

"or I could just go home and spend quality time with my boyfriend while you could stay and clean up the rest. How about that?" Christine asks back.

"I'll take that trash out." The girl who where teasing says and grabs the trash bag and walks by Mac and out of the kitchen, and everyone starts laughing.

"if you want to wait for me. I can make you a cup of coffee; there is also a piece of pie left. I only got a few more things to do." Christine says quiet enough for Mac to hear it but not loud enough for the rest of her employees to hear it. He nods.

"sure sounds good." They walk into the small room Christine has arranged to be her office where she does all of the financials for the restaurant.

"If you need help with anything, I can give you a hand." He offers.

"We are good." She says and kisses him passionately.

"get a room." One of her male employees says as he walks by them with the broom.

"how about you get a girlfriend first, and then you can comment on my relationship," Christine says, and the young man pretends to look disappointed and continues to sweep the floor.

"It seems like you guys are all in a good mood." Mac comments, almost whispering.

"I'll tell you about it later." She says and places one last quick kiss on his lips before she gets back to work.

It is almost 11 pm when Christine and Mac are in the car on their way to Mac's apartment. It is quiet in the car. Christine is just looking out the window and up at the lights on the skylines.

"you okay?" he asks, reaching over and places his hand on hers. Christine looks over at him with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She says and squeezes his hand reassuringly, and then she returns to look out the window at the skylines, but she looks over at Mac with a smile when she hears him yarn.

"you are tired?" she asks with a smile. Remembering what happened early this morning.

"I didn't exactly get a lot of sleep this morning." He says, trying to sound accusingly, but the smile on his face tells her he does really mean it.

"says the guy who normally function on 4 hours sleep. I don't think it is the lack of sleep that made you tired."

"oh, that is right. You were distracting me from sleeping." He says, but he purposefully doesn't look over at her, but he can tell she has a surprised look on her face.

"you distracted me. you started it."

"oh, right. I won't do that again."

"you can't keep that." She just says determined, but he notices the daring look in her eyes when he sneaks a peek at her while he is driving.

"keeps your eyes on the road." She orders when she catches him in sneaking a peek at her.

"okay. Someone is back in business mode." He teases her.

She smiles and then looks out her side window. Mac isn't sure if he overstepped a line with that comment. Some he isn't saying anything for a while.

"How did it go today?" he asks once they stop for red-light.

"surprisingly well," she says. Mac waits for her to continue. "I told them the truth about what happened to me. Not in detail. Just the overall. I told them who did it and why. I also told them not to do anything stupid. Some of the boys started talking about getting back on Jimmy, but I told them not to go all Rambo." She is looking out the window as she speaks. She then turns her head to look at Mac with a very accusing look. "unlike you, obi one Kenobi." She says, and they both start laughing.

"I think I have a bit more experience dealing with scumbags like Jimmy Boyd then your college employees do," Mac says to try and justify that he went Rambo doing the investigation.

"it doesn't justify it," she says accusingly.

"But I am kind of glad you did, though." She says and leans over and places a kiss on his cheek.

"so, what was that drinking beer tonight about?" he asks. "it seems like you guys were in a perfect mood."

"Yeah. We closed a bit early. There were no customers. After the past few weeks that have been sort of crazy, I figured we could all use some quality time together so. Take-out food and a beer for everyone, and then we were just chatting having a good time. Basically, just bunding. I told them if they had any questions, they could just ask."

"That sounds really great, Christine."

"I was expecting them to ask questions about the kidnapping and about Jimmy, but instead, they started asking about you."

"me?" mac asks, looking over at her, surprised.

"yeah." Christine starts laughing by the memory of her employees' questions. "questions about how we meet. How long we have known each other. If you have a problem with dating your best friends' sister. Stuff like that. You know college kids jokes kind of stuff." They both start laughing.

" The boys asked if you are a good guy. You know almost sounding like a brother while the girls were more interested in knowing if you have any cute cop colleagues who are single. They were just being goofy."

"It sounds like you and your employees will come through this stronger together," Mac says and places his hand on her leg.

"Yeah. I think so." She admits and looks out the window again.

"I'm glad you dealt with it in your own way," Mac says.

"Yeah, me too. Although…" Christine says and looks over at him and waits for him to look at her. He looks over at her when they stop at a red light.

"I wouldn't mind picking up where we left off this morning."

"I thought you didn't want me to distract you," he says, trying to sound confused, but the smile on his face betrayals him.

"I could use some more distraction." She says, and they both start laughing.

"okay. Maybe we can work on that." He says with a smile on his face. He is just happy that Christine is going to be okay. She is dealing with the situation in her own way, and it is working for her.


End file.
